Uh-oh

So, I saw this news story in the elevator this morning... earthquake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hits Panama and Costa Rica. Just awesome. Where will Matt and I be in less than 3 weeks? Costa Rica.

And I was worried about zip-lining above the trees... maybe I should be worried about being swallowed up by the earth!

I looked up the epicenter of the earthquake to see how far it is from where Matt and I are going and it's a little over 200 miles away. Apparently, the earthquake could be felt in the cities we'll be visiting.

Got a new phone

I have no idea how to use it yet, though! I couldn't even figure out how to turn it to silent mode... I had to look in the user manual. And I think you have to keep it on while it's charging, because I kept trying to turn it off and it kept coming back on. I'm sure the people sitting around me were getting annoyed because that was before I figured out the whole silent mode thing. Oops.

My favorite part is that the phone has a slide-out keyboard. This is definitely a step up from my current phone, which didn't even have proper text messaging. I had to basically type out the entire words. Not cool. Of course, the keyboard is pretty tiny and my fingers are... well, not very tiny at all. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I'm hanging on to my old phone, though, because it's unlocked and very useful when traveling overseas.

Weekend wrap-up... LU, wedding dresses and some serious braisin'

Matt and I met up with a few others to watch the Loyola b-ball game on Friday night. Unfortunately, Loyola didn't win.

Matt downing his jack and diet at half-time


Free beer and popcorn at Zips after the game... awesome idea!


On Saturday, Jane, Hany, Erin and I went out to David's Bridal so Hany could look at wedding dresses. We also stopped off at a small store by Erin's house to see what they had. Lots of pretty dresses... and some definite possibilities. But I think she found a dress today when she and Jane went out to Wedding Belles in Barrington. I can't wait to see it! : )

After dress shopping, we ate lunch at Chevy's. I used to go there when I lived in St. Louis - love the salsa!

On Sunday, Ross, Erin, Matt and I went to another one of those cooking parties at Bespoke. This time was 'Braisin' with da Bears'. We cooked while watching the Bears v. Packers game. We started off with some super spicy chicken wings and sausage stuffed mushrooms. Despite my aversion to meat on a bone, I even tried the chicken wings after hearing how great they were. I think you could have made a meal out of the appetizers alone. So good! We also had a salad with red pears and candied walnuts. For the main course, we had braised short ribs and chicken thighs with super cheesy mac-n-cheese. I was so full I could barely finish the dessert, warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. Everything was delish! Too bad the Bears sucked and got skunked by the Packers.

Erin working the stove


Ross was on chicken wing duty


Matt and me... this is the one good pic I get for the day!


The best wings!


Ross and Erin


Ross sauteing the sweet potatoes


I think I need to work on my form!


Macaroni... just waiting for all the cheese!


The finished product


Ross, Matt and me chowin' down


Dessert... yum!

DeezNuts

We saw this license plate today while out in the 'burbs shopping for wedding gowns for Hany... this is our team name for EVERYTHING! I can't believe someone has it on their car!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANY!!! : )

My flight from Pittsburgh got in 30 minutes early, but we had to sit on the tarmac for about 30 minutes waiting for our gate to free up. So, that "early" really didn't mean much.

I dropped off my stuff and headed to the Purple Otter for trivia night... and to celebrate Hany's birthday with her (our bowling league was canceled this week for some reason).

There seemed to be a sports category in almost every round and we missed most of those. Even the final question was a sports one. We also picked the wrong answer every time when we had it narrowed down to two and were trying to decide... super frustrating!

At the end, we weren't in last place... and we definitely weren't in first place. But we had a fun time! : )

Pittsburgh

I'm in Pittsburgh this week for work... we do internal audits of our offices and I got assigned to Pittsburgh.

A couple of interesting facts I just learned about Pittsburgh:
1. It is the birthplace of the Big Mac.
2. It has the most bridges of any city in the US and is second only to Venice, Italy in the world rankings.

This pic is the view from my window... TP is on the 56th floor here! You can see the stadiums where the Steelers play and where the Pirates play. Pretty cool view!

The Ottes invade Chicago! : )

My uncle and aunt (Chuck and June) and some of their friends were up in Chicago this past weekend visiting and we always have such a fun time when they are around!

I was so worn out... I totally crashed on the couch yesterday after the Bears game!

Let's see...

Friday Night: Happpy hour/karaoke at Blue Frog
A group from Erin's company had a happy hour there and we joined them. Blue Frog has surprisingly good food... of course, it's all fried and bad for you, but it tastes great!

The Scripps group singing a song


Lindsay, me and Chuck


Erin and a coworker singing a song


I just thought this was funny... reminded me of Sink the Biz'!


Chuck, Erin and June


Me, June and Lindsay


Just June and Lindsay


Chuck... raisin' the roof!


Not sure who these people are, but loved the guy's hat... and he kept singing about pancakes even though the song had nothing to do with pancakes.


Chuck and June


Saturday day and into the night: Chuck and June threw a party at Erin's place
We watched football, drank TONS of beer, ate some great Italian beef from Portillo's, played cards... the party lasted over 10 hours! The beer and Jack didn't though!

Erin decided that the glasses Andy and Matt were using for Jack and Cokes were too small, so she gave them these big mugs!


Ta-da! Chuck made it upstairs!


Me and Matt


Matt... I think he's sad that the Jack is all gone!


At the end of the night, someone else must have taken control of my camera because I have a lot of pics of (unsuspecting) people's butts while they were cleaning up the party. I won't post those, though. Whoever it was... wasn't helping clean! ; )

Sunday: Watched the Bears game at Brownstone
We all met up at Brownstone to catch the Bears game, drink some more beer and play more cards (like we didn't get enough of that on Saturday?!? : ) ). I love the food at Brownstone! We didn't get a skillet cookie, though. Next time.